It is often advantageous to provide light in a dark room, while at the same time not disturbing a person while sleeping. Typically, this is accomplished using night lights, which are small lamps generally in the range of 4 to 7 watts. Incandescent lamps, light emitting diodes (LED's), neon lamps, and electroluminescent materials are commonly used in night lights. However, heretofore night lights have been plugged directly into an electrical outlet, and thus their location has always been fixed and located on walls. Electrical outlets are generally located on walls just above the floor and are frequently blocked by sofas, desks, beds and other household furniture. This makes placement of a typical night light very limited.
Other night lights are built into electrical switches, outlets or cover plates for installation on an electrical switch or outlet. The installation and placement of such night lights are also restricted to the location of an electrical outlet or switch.
Switches are usually located at the entrance of a room and thus not where a person may wish the night light to be. In rooms such as bathrooms and kitchens, electrical outlets are usually located on walls at counter height where night lights can be placed close to a counter top or work area. But, in living rooms, dens, bedrooms, offices and other work rooms, electrical outlets are frequently located behind household furniture items. If a night light is installed or plugged into an electrical outlet in such a location, it is useless as a source of light for illuminating an area in a room. Furthermore, in a typical kitchen or bathroom the few outlets that are located at counter level are often being used by the wide variety of kitchen and bathroom appliances. It is desirable to provide a night light that can still be used when all outlets in a particular room are already in use without disconnecting an appliance.
A night light that could be placed in locations other than near an electrical outlet would be advantageous.
A need exists for a low power night light that can be positioned anywhere along an electrical cord which has one end plugged into an electrical outlet and the other end operating an appliance, e.g. a floor lamp or television.